Radically Happy

  • Keeping Promises, with John Dawson

    I spent a wonderful weekend at Promise Keepers in San Jose with my friend John McClements. It formed an interesting counterpoint to the Web 2.0 conference I had attended earlier that week. One of my favorite talks was by John Dawson , President of YWAM, whose book I had read…

  • Nehemiah 6 Rotten Meet

    Questions: What motivates our enemies? Where does courage come from? When is religion a crutch? Who speaks for God? How can we tell genuine from false* Why are some attacks doomed to fail? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah

  • Nehemiah 5 Human Capital

    Why is slavery wrong? Why did God sometimes allow it? What is our responsibility for how we use our money? What do we owe the poor? Are we our brother’s keepers? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • Covered With [Wholesome] Sin by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

    I loved the imagery and insight in today’s Spurgeon devotional: “Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague.” —-Leviticus 13:13 The basic idea is that the path of virtue, paradoxically, requires embracing our total sinfulness. That is, only when we…

  • The Oatmeal of Shame (A Parable)

    Now, the first thing you need to realize is that oatmeal is part of my life. Not a big part, or a hugely important one, but a regular part. It is a central focus of my morning routine, right up there with coffee. I’m not religious about it — when…

  • Nehemiah 4 The Bitter Half

    Questions: Why does doing good create enemies? How should we respond to opposition? What is it that we really need to fear? Why is it important to fight and work together? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • Children of God by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

    Today’s devotional really spoke to the question of “Joy” that I realize I’d been missing: The rod of chastisement must rest upon us in our measure, but it worketh for us the comfortable fruits of righteousness; and therefore by the aid of the divine Comforter, we, the “people saved of…

  • Intellectuals vs. Faith (?)

    Hat tip to Applejack for “Ross Douthat’s exceptional response at The American Scene” to Mark Lilla’s personal essay in the Times Magazine about the loss of his “evangelical” faith. I appreciate how Douthat doesn’t shy away from conceding Mark Lilla’s valid points about the superficiality and cultural conditioning of much…

  • Graphical Theology: The Grace Cycle

    As a follow-on to “Grace in the Gap“, I’ve cleaned up and reposted another Graphic Theology piece known as “The Grace Cycle.” The Grace Cycle attempts to capture the idea that there is a single dynamic — represented by three inter-woven rings — which drives the main processes of the…

  • Graphical Theology: Grace in the Gap

    I recently figured out how to open some of my old ‘Graphical Theology’ diagrams from the mid-1990’s. These were part of what I called The Grace Project — an attempt to update and build on the reformation-era teachings about ‘Guilt-Grace-Gratitude’ as the basis of the Christian life. Today’s posting, entitled…

  • Nehemiah 3 Name Game

    What does it mean to take local responsibility for a global problem? How does leadership make a difference? Why do some people still not participate? Does one person matter? Is this how revolutions happen? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • Nehemiah 2 Wine and Pleas

    Questions: How do you start a revolution — without rebelling? What is the balance between prayer and preparation? How should we display emotion to dangerous men? How do we show mercy to discouraged men? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • Nehemiah 1 Disaster Report

    Questions: What is our response when disaster strikes those we love? Where is God? Can we really trust Him? Do we too have a burden to bear? What needs to be done? Will we take responsibility? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • On Being a Man, and Marriage

    I am working on a statement for a friend regarding my position on sexuality, and wanted to include it here: Deeper than my marriage, deeper even than my sexuality, I am a Man. Whom I am as a man is central to my understanding of my self, my marriage, my…

  • Have You No Shame? (Romans 9, Hebrews 12)

    Consider how many common behaviors can be understand in terms of “shaming” and “counter-shaming”: pro wrestlers “talking smack” children (especially siblings) teasing each other yelling at drivers who cut us off in traffic non-lethal competition (and ultimate submission) among male mammals the addiction cycle and, even more seriously, rape and…

  • Song: GraceFather

    This song was inspired by the narrative idea of “creation-corruption-redemption” as illustrated in The Grace Cycle. I awoke that Sunday with a heart full of praise, but didn’t have the words to express how I felt. The word “GraceFather” (a la GodFather) came to mind, but it was intertwined with…

  • Star Love by Kenneth James Sniecinski

    “Star Love” by Kenneth James Sniecinski Written June 1st, Anno Domini 2005 Exemplar emulated in a place sojourned, or of permanence be it burned in its perspicuous veraciousness, or embraced in its affability yet those still not perspicacious, see it to be grandiloquently unreachable far be it true, never has…

  • iMix: Becoming Manly and Godly

    Which is a valid and good thing, but I’m at a place in my life where I need a deeper understanding of the masculine aspects of following God, of being an authentic and complete Man of God. These are all songs which have helped me in my journey, and I…

  • Watering Others by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

    Today’s devotional: We are here taught the great lesson, that to get, we must give; that to accumulate, we must scatter; that to make ourselves happy, we must make others happy; and that in order to become spiritually vigorous, we must seek the spiritual good of others. In watering others,…

  • Death, Part II: I Am Risen In Christ

    Death, Part II: I Am Risen In Christ

    > Finally, I glance at where my side was pierced, where I see that a hole still exists. I gently probe it with my fingers, and am surprised to see that the hole looks like it extends all the way to my heart! > Yet, it is positioned in such…